Montréal is a cool city in the summer. It is a walkable city par excellence. Plateau, Mont Royal, vieux port, vieux Montréal, le village (gay village), parc Lafontaine and many other parcs, jean drapeau...
architecturally you can hunt down individual buildings oline but really it is the overall city (or at least a lot of its neighbourhoods/quartiers) that makes for the experience. the vernacular architecture with the terraces and the staircases, the scale of the streets
try to stay in the Plateau if you can, I like that area most and it is well within the central part of Montréal.
Go visit Québec city too. It is probably the most charming (in the european way) city in north america (at least where the central/touristy part is). It is very close..a couple of hours by train.
Place Ville-Marie, by IM Pei & Assoc. in partnership with ARCOP (who also did Place des Arts also in Mtl, National Arts Centre in Ottawa and several other important modern works) recently opened (or re-created if you wish) the observatory on its rooftop, I'm not sure how much it costs for the actual observatory (easily google-able..? Ha.) but there is a bistro/restaurant up there (Les Enfants Terribles) so you can enjoy the view while having a bite. For more good views, go to the top of Mount-Royal park (it's free but kind of a hike depending how you get there. If you're lazy take the 11 bus)
Otherwise there's the CCA like Non Sequitur said, mind you they're only open from Wed to Sun, 11 to 4 I think. The olympic park is also pretty cool if you're into concrete porn and/or penguins. The stadium is worth a look structure-wise and the new planetarium is right next door, with a green roof terrace thing going on. It's pretty cool.
There's the Guide to contemporary architecture of Montreal that recently came out, it has a pretty good list of buildings. Old Montreal/Business district has some interesting mix between old and new, with industrial-modern stuff going on, walking along Lachine Canal is nice.
Good luck at Habitat, I went with a group tour with my architecture school once so we had no problem. You can take pics from the road but like the others said, they're usually strict with random people walking around under the cubes. Other remnants of Expo include the Casino (old French Pavilion) and Biosphere (Fuller's dome), Calder's sculpture and a few other buildings dotted around Parc-Jean-Drapeau.
Food-wise, bagels are a must in my book, whether you choose Saint-Viateur or Fairmount is up to you, they're both good. There are also markets, Jean-Talon is a good one, and Atwater (near the same Lachine canal - they have some yummy pork buns there).
Delighted with the responses! Will make a useful travel guide.
Personally, I really enjoy exploring neighborhoods -- physical, and social/cultural contexts. Public spaces, parks, transit, and cuisine (I know, I like food too!)
I'll be sure to find the bagles. What about smoked meat?
^ ^ get smoked meat on a toasted fresh Montreal bagel with mustard and a pickle on the side. Heaven.
And for poutine, there is most certainly a correlation between the sketchiness factor of a joint and a higher quality poutine. Anything nicer than a hole-in-the-wall is way too classy and should be avoided. Although cockroaches may be too dirty ....
The Botanical Garden - especially the Chinese and Japanese gardens. The Japanese garden was designed by Ken Nakajima, if I remember correctly. One nice thing among many, people go there to play go during the summer.
The Biodome, the former Olympic Velodrome. Interesting building conversion, worth visiting.
*** Update on Habitat: if we all get together, we could probably afford this banging set of cubes and not have to worry about trespassing ever again...
Montréal Visit - Where/What?
Poutine, obviously.
Any other advice/recommendations?
Check out Safdie's Habitat. It's private property and you'll probably get yelled at for trespassing but it's worth it.
Their Museum of Fine Art is also pretty great.
If you like beer go to Dieu du Ciel and/or Le Saint Bock.
Came here to say poutine.
Next, the usual: Habitat 67, Bucky's dome, Biodome (for the penguins), Canadian centre for architecture.
But serious, Montreal always has some sort of festival going and it always spreads out into the small pubs/venues.
tduds is correct about Habitat. I can speak from experience since I have been escorted out years ago.
Montréal is a cool city in the summer. It is a walkable city par excellence. Plateau, Mont Royal, vieux port, vieux Montréal, le village (gay village), parc Lafontaine and many other parcs, jean drapeau...
architecturally you can hunt down individual buildings oline but really it is the overall city (or at least a lot of its neighbourhoods/quartiers) that makes for the experience. the vernacular architecture with the terraces and the staircases, the scale of the streets
nice cafés , ice cream gelato shops, independent bookshops (ok mostly french), public swimming pools
try to stay in the Plateau if you can, I like that area most and it is well within the central part of Montréal.
Go visit Québec city too. It is probably the most charming (in the european way) city in north america (at least where the central/touristy part is). It is very close..a couple of hours by train.
you just missed Osheaga if you cared.
Place Ville-Marie, by IM Pei & Assoc. in partnership with ARCOP (who also did Place des Arts also in Mtl, National Arts Centre in Ottawa and several other important modern works) recently opened (or re-created if you wish) the observatory on its rooftop, I'm not sure how much it costs for the actual observatory (easily google-able..? Ha.) but there is a bistro/restaurant up there (Les Enfants Terribles) so you can enjoy the view while having a bite. For more good views, go to the top of Mount-Royal park (it's free but kind of a hike depending how you get there. If you're lazy take the 11 bus)
Otherwise there's the CCA like Non Sequitur said, mind you they're only open from Wed to Sun, 11 to 4 I think. The olympic park is also pretty cool if you're into concrete porn and/or penguins. The stadium is worth a look structure-wise and the new planetarium is right next door, with a green roof terrace thing going on. It's pretty cool.
There's the Guide to contemporary architecture of Montreal that recently came out, it has a pretty good list of buildings. Old Montreal/Business district has some interesting mix between old and new, with industrial-modern stuff going on, walking along Lachine Canal is nice.
Good luck at Habitat, I went with a group tour with my architecture school once so we had no problem. You can take pics from the road but like the others said, they're usually strict with random people walking around under the cubes. Other remnants of Expo include the Casino (old French Pavilion) and Biosphere (Fuller's dome), Calder's sculpture and a few other buildings dotted around Parc-Jean-Drapeau.
Food-wise, bagels are a must in my book, whether you choose Saint-Viateur or Fairmount is up to you, they're both good. There are also markets, Jean-Talon is a good one, and Atwater (near the same Lachine canal - they have some yummy pork buns there).
Let us know where you end up going!
Chez Paree
Personally, I really enjoy exploring neighborhoods -- physical, and social/cultural contexts. Public spaces, parks, transit, and cuisine (I know, I like food too!)
I'll be sure to find the bagles. What about smoked meat?
And for poutine, there is most certainly a correlation between the sketchiness factor of a joint and a higher quality poutine. Anything nicer than a hole-in-the-wall is way too classy and should be avoided. Although cockroaches may be too dirty ....
What about smoked meat?
You must have a sandwich at this true Montreal institution, Chez Schwartz's
Also:
The Botanical Garden - especially the Chinese and Japanese gardens. The Japanese garden was designed by Ken Nakajima, if I remember correctly. One nice thing among many, people go there to play go during the summer.
The Biodome, the former Olympic Velodrome. Interesting building conversion, worth visiting.
And Le Vieux-Port, of course!
And perhaps a gem of a library, Librairie Henri-Julien, a surprising second-hand bookstore ("livres d'occasion"), some rare old books.
@ Bench - very true. Chez Claudette is a good example of the sketch : deliciousness ratio.
ShakeyDeal it's on the corner of Laurier and Drolet, one street west of Saint-Denis, in the same Plateau area chatter of clouds was talking about.
in my experience, if a poutine joint is open past 4am... that's the place you want to go.
*** Update on Habitat: if we all get together, we could probably afford this banging set of cubes and not have to worry about trespassing ever again...
http://duproprio.com/condo-a-vendre-montreal-centre-ville-ville-marie-quebec-604160?position=45.50386554575289,-73.54168653488159&zoom=15
It's on the nice side with the city views.
$1700 a month for condo fees?
Yeah. I ignored that part.
And we can roller blade to the casino!
^traveling on that bridge over the river is pretty brutal
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